The Taiwan stock market headed south again on Thursday, one session after it had ended the three-day losing streak in which it had surrendered more than 720 points or 6.8 percent. The Taiwan Stock Exchange now rests just beneath the 10,530-point plateau and it may take further damage on Friday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is broadly negative thanks to growing concerns over interest rates and a drop in crude oil prices. The European and U.S. markets were sharply lower and the Asian bourses figure to follow suit.
The TSE finished modestly lower on Thursday as losses from the technology stocks were mitigated by support from the financial shares.
For the day, the index slid 23.02 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 10,528.52 after trading between 10,512.93 and 10,609.50 on turnover of 119.472 billion Taiwan dollars.
Among the actives, Largan Precision jumped 1.92 percent, while Hon Hai Precision dropped 1.11 percent, United Microelectronics Corporation shed 0.35 percent, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation lost 0.63 percent, AU Optronics soared 3.76 percent, Catcher Technology tumbled 1.75 percent, Innolux advanced 3.05 percent, China Steel gained 0.64 percent, Taiwan Steel Union plunged 3.99 percent, Cathay Financial climbed 1.14 percent, Fubon Financial collected 0.80 percent and Mega Financial was unchanged.
The lead from Wall Street is brutal as stocks quickly shrugged off an early move to the upside on Thursday, and tumbled deep into negative territory.
The Dow shed 1,032.89 points or 4.15 percent to 23,860.46, while the NASDAQ lost 274.82 points or 3.90 percent to 6,777.16 and the S&P 500 fell 100.66 points or 3.75 percent to 2,581.00.
The lead from Wall Street is awful as the mid-day sell-off sent the Dow into correction territory. Stocks have tumbled from record highs over the past week as traders grew concerned about inflation and higher interest rates.
In economic news, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday that the recent correction in U.S. stocks will have little impact on the broader economy, a sign that the FOMC still plans to raise interest rates at least three times in 2018.
Crude oil futures fell Thursday, slipping to their lowest in five weeks due to a stronger dollar and demand concerns. WTI light sweet crude oil was down 64 cents or 1 percent to $61.15/bbl.
by RTT Staff Writer
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